


A Little Spying (Never Hurt Anyone)

by deadhuntress



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Fluff, M/M, POV Charlie Bradbury, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-22 01:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7413793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadhuntress/pseuds/deadhuntress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dean reveals his four-year relationship to Charlie, she quickly figures out that he's dating a guy - and of course, the best way to get more information? Spying on them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Spying (Never Hurt Anyone)

“Come on, Dean,” Charlie wheedled. “Just one date. And if you don’t like her, then fine. But can’t you just go on one date? For me?”

“I’ve told you again and again, Charlie, I’m not interested,” Dean sighed.

Charlie groaned in frustration. Her best friend Dean was a great guy, funny and caring and smart (and highly attractive too, even she could admit), and definitely deserved a wonderful girlfriend, but for years, every time she tried to set him up with someone, he refused to even try it.

“Can you at least tell me  _why_  you’re not interested? What’s wrong with every girl I find?”

Dean smiled briefly at that, a small, private smile like he was keeping a secret. “They’re not right, Charlie,” he said finally, smile leaving his face as he went right back to being slightly exasperated. “Why don’t you just give up?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Because, Dean, I care about you–” and yeah, that was desperate, even for her, “–and I want you to be happy.” Well, wasn't she a walking cliché this morning.

“Has it ever occurred to you that I  _am_  happy?” Dean questioned, though not unkindly. She opened her mouth, then closed it again without saying anything. “Charlie,” he continued, closing his eyes and sighing. He paused for a long moment as if having an internal debate with himself. Charlie waited patiently for him to continue, her interest piqued. He started again. “Charlie… I’m taken. I’ve had – I’ve been dating someone for the past four years.”

She blinked, reeling at this sudden confession, and her brain struggled to catch up. “Wait, since – since freshman year?”

He nodded and she struggled to unite her trains of thought. Taken? Why would Dean date a girl for four years and not tell Charlie, his best friend, that she existed, let alone introduce her? And why did he change his sentence to “dating someone” instead of just saying he had a girlfr- oh.  _Ohh_. The pieces clicked into place.

“You’ve had a boyfriend for  _four years_  and you never mentioned him  _once_?”

Silence. She looked up – Dean was gone. That jerk. She’d always suspected that Dean’s romantic interests didn’t include only girls, but he’d never mentioned anything and she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable by asking, especially knowing that his dad was likely to disapprove. Therefore she’d only ever tried to set him up with girls. She felt dumb for not realizing anything before, but then again, she knew Dean was very good at keeping secrets if he wanted to. _Well_ , she thought. If Dean wasn’t going to tell her anything, she would have to do a little detective work herself, starting right now. Charlie wasn’t sure where Dean had gone, but she figured the first step was to leave the dining hall, where they’d been eating lunch. Luckily, her classes were finished for the day, so she had plenty of time to spy.

She stood at the front of the parking lot, looking for Dean’s black Chevy Impala. Thankfully, it was a hard car to miss, and she found it quickly. There was a guy leaning up against it, arms crossed casually in front of him, but it wasn’t Dean. She soon spotted Dean walking quickly towards the car, and though she couldn’t see his face, she guessed from his body language that he was smiling.

The other guy’s face lit up when he saw Dean and they greeted each other with a quick kiss. Dean grabbed the guy’s hands, said something, and kissed him again, both of them laughing, probably at some inside joke. In any case, the familiarity they shared was very obvious.

She watched the couple closely, inching closer for a better look. From what she could see of their faces it appeared Dean was telling this boy something, something serious judging by his posture. She wished she were close enough to hear them.

She saw the other boy’s face pass through a range of expressions: surprise, questioning, happiness, support – love. Maybe Dean had admitted what he’d just told her? The two embraced for a while, and Charlie glanced away, knowing she was witnessing a very intimate moment. When she looked back, the two were climbing into Dean’s car, and no more than a minute later, he had backed up and was pulling away.

Later that night, Charlie sat in her apartment trying to do her Calculus homework, but her mind was still on Dean and his mystery boyfriend. She couldn’t decide if she should admit to Dean that she’d both realized he had a boyfriend and seen them together or wait until she saw him again in person. After much internal debate, she pulled out her phone and typed out a text.

_Your boyfriend is cute._

She frowned and deleted the typing.  _I know you have a boyfriend._  Now she just sounded like a stalker. After a few more failed attempts at a non-creepy message, she dropped her phone in frustration and put her head in her hands. It was probably just as well; she’d rather have this discussion in person. At that moment, though, she decided to have some fun and do a little more snooping before bringing anything up.

\---

The next day was Charlie’s busiest day of the week, so she didn’t have a chance to see Dean anyway. The day after that, she saw them together again, but this time it was an accident.

Charlie worked at the Starbucks on campus, and on that particular day she’d been called into work at ten-thirty to switch shifts with someone who couldn’t be there. She walked in, took her place at the register, and was immediately swamped with customers. This time of day was the most crowded and breaks between customers were rare. Even so, during a small lull she glanced up and did a double-take. Dean was sitting at a partially hidden table in the back, working on his computer as a dark-haired guy leaned against him, drawing something in a large sketch pad. She recognized the mystery guy from the day before as Dean’s boyfriend and tried not to be obvious as she watched them in between customers. They weren’t paying attention to anything around them, so it was unlikely that they’d notice her. She guessed that part of the reason they came during this time was because Dean knew that Charlie wasn’t scheduled to work.

Charlie was so distracted watching them, she didn’t notice when a blond guy walked up and stood in front of the register, waiting patiently to give her his order.

“Um, hello?” he said finally, causing her to start in surprise.

“Oh, sorry!” she exclaimed. “Uh, what can I get for you?”

The guy raised his eyebrows but didn’t push. “Tall iced coffee with milk, please,” he said. “Name’s Balthazar.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow at the name, but didn’t mention it. “That’ll be $3.85,” she said. She glanced back toward Dean’s table as she waited for the guy to get out some money.

He handed her a few bills but turned and followed her gaze to where Dean had pulled the mystery guy into a comfortable side-hug.

“I hate to break it to you,” the blond guy said, interrupting her thoughts, “but I think he’s taken.”

“Huh?” Charlie whipped her head back around. “Oh, yeah… yeah, I know.”

The guy raised his eyebrows and nodded knowingly, but his drink came before he could say anything, so he just gave her a salute and left.

\---

On Thursday, Charlie purposely followed Dean after her classes, hoping to catch another glimpse of his mystery man. She knew that his last class of the day finished at two and he’d even told her where he was going to be that afternoon. The town had a Fall Festival every year – a week of food, games, and rides in the area’s largest park – and it was a very popular community event. Dean had let it slip that he was going there that afternoon, and she knew it was because he thought she had to work and therefore wouldn’t be able to talk her way into coming. What he wasn’t aware of, however, was the fact that Charlie was off because she had switched shifts the day before. Charlie decided another day of being a stalker wouldn’t hurt anyone, so after her last class, she headed to the outskirts of town where the festivities were set up.

Charlie walked through the entrance and quickly found herself becoming caught up in the fun despite her intended mission. She immediately gravitated toward a booth selling freshly-made funnel cakes and bought one as well as a steaming cup of apple cider. As she ate, she wandered around the park, enjoying the warm, sunny day. Charlie had almost forgotten why she even came to the festival when she spotted a familiar head in front of the cotton candy booth. Dean and his boyfriend were in line, hands intertwined loosely between them as they chatted. Suddenly Dean leaned back in his trademark full body laugh, and Charlie wondered what the other guy had said that was so funny. Dean was still chuckling as they ordered and paid, and Charlie watched as his boyfriend turned to him, laughing as well, but more in the amused ‘why are you still laughing?’ way. ‘It wasn’t that funny,’ Charlie could imagine him saying, though she stopped herself there. As if the stalking wasn’t weird enough, she didn’t need to fill in their conversations too. Shaking her head, she left before they could see her, heading to the rides on the other side of the field.

The afternoon passed quickly, and Charlie enjoyed herself, even without a friend there with her. She saw Dean and his boyfriend two more times – at first in line for the little roller coaster at the back of the park and later at the picnic tables eating burgers and fries. From what she had seen, they were quite the adorable couple – affectionate and seemingly lost in their own little world. It was so different from any relationship she’d seen Dean in when they were in high school, and it was obvious that it was a strong one. The biggest surprise for Charlie was how comfortable Dean was being with a boyfriend in public. She was doubtful he’d ever been or would be that comfortable in his childhood home, so this was like seeing a whole new side of Dean that she hadn’t known existed.

Before Charlie knew it, night had fallen and the festival was lit only by moonlight and the twinkling lights decorating the rides and booths. She was walking toward the entrance, intending to go home and sleep, when she spotted the now-familiar couple. Dean and his boyfriend were standing nearby, heads tilted back as they peered into the darkness. The dark-haired man was standing behind Dean, arms wrapped around him from behind as he pointed at something in the night sky. Dean turned his head back as the guy was talking and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Charlie could tell that Dean had surprised and distracted his boyfriend by doing that, and they began kissing more deeply. Dean had turned around in the other boy’s arms, and the two of them were standing even closer now. After another few moments and an amused smile in their direction, she left, deciding to talk to Dean over the weekend.

\---

The next Saturday, Charlie went to Dean’s apartment to return the biology textbook she’d borrowed from him and to invite him out to dinner, figuring she could reveal what she’d been doing for the past week over burgers and fries. She stood in front of his door and knocked, waiting patiently for him to answer. She stood for a minute until finally the door opened.

“Charlie?” Dean said, obviously surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to return this,” she said, holding up the book, “and to see if you wanted to go out tonight. There’s a burger with your name on it at the Roadhouse.”

Dean took the book from her hand. “I’m actually busy tonight, Charlie; I, uh… have company.”

“He’s welcome to join us,” Charlie said with a shrug.

Dean’s eyes widened. “How do you–?”

“Dean,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “I figured it out on Monday, right after you ran out on me. And then, um. I kind of followed you into the parking lot and saw him. He seems like a great guy,” she added hurriedly. “I’ve also seen you two a couple more times since then. It’s amazing what you notice when you know what to look for.” As she said this, she gently pushed past him into the apartment.

“So you – you know? That I have a boyfriend?”

“Yes, Dean,” Charlie said. “He’s welcome to come out front and meet his boyfriend’s best friend,” she added loudly.

“Charlie!” Dean exclaimed, embarrassed, but he turned to head toward the kitchen and gestured for Charlie to follow.

When she walked in the kitchen, she saw the dark-haired man sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. He stood when she walked in and she immediately rushed to give him a tight hug. He stiffened at first, surprised, but hugged her back when he realized what was happening.

Dean cleared his throat from behind her and she pulled back. “Charlie, this is Cas. Cas, Charlie.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Cas said sincerely and she grinned.

“So you’re the mystery boyfriend!” she said, looking him up and down appraisingly. “Dreamy,” she said with a wink at Dean, before turning back to Cas. “I mean, I’ve seen you, but–”

Cas looked confused. “I thought you hadn’t told her yet,” he said, looking at Dean for an explanation.

“I hadn’t,” Dean said. “I mean, on Monday I finally told her I’d been dating someone for four years, but I didn’t say who or tell her you were a man.”

“I did a little spying,” Charlie admitted with a shrug. “But I figured out he was dating a guy before I saw you,” she said to Cas. “So,” she continued, pouring a cup of coffee for herself and settling in. “I need more details. All I know so far is that you guys’ve been dating for four years and you–” she pointed to Cas “–can draw.” She plopped down at the table and gazed up at them, waiting. Cas looked a little bewildered at her forwardness and energy and Dean laughed. “You’ll get used to it,” he promised, sitting in Cas’ vacated seat and pulling his boyfriend down into the chair right next to him.

“You look happy,” Charlie prompted Dean. “From what I’ve seen you’re one of those gross couples who always stare into each other’s eyes constantly and have no concept of personal space.”

“Ha-ha,” Dean said, but he placed his hand over Cas’ anyway and glanced at him. “Well,” he started. “We met freshman year. He’s an art student here. Remember that student art show thingy you dragged me to during our first semester? And then you got distracted by that ‘dreamy art major’ and deserted me?”

“She was _very_ dreamy,” Charlie said defensively.

“Yeah, yeah,” Dean said knowingly. “Anyway, Cas was there. He did a really cool painting of a man and his guardian angel – you know it actually, the one in my living room?”

Now that Dean mentioned it, she did know exactly which one he was talking about. She’d always liked it – it portrayed the shimmery white silhouette of a man in front of a much larger winged being. The man, she recalled Dean telling her, was white because his soul was pure and the dark creature behind him was his guardian angel, acting like a protective shadow. _The Righteous Man_ , Dean had called it. “The one that you got–” she started.

“Four years ago,” Dean finished, nodding.

Charlie’s eyes were wide as she processed this new information. “You would never tell me where it came from or how you knew the meaning behind it,” she accused. “All you said was it was a gift from a friend.”

“Guilty,” Dean said with a shrug. “Anyway, at the show you deserted me and I wandered around until I ran into Cas–“

“Literally,” Cas clarified with a small grin.

“Yeah, well,” Dean muttered.

“He fell for me,” Cas said, and Dean groaned.

“You’re the worst,” Dean complained.

“You love me anyway,” Cas said, and Dean reluctantly agreed as they shared a tender glance.

“Ahem,” Charlie said, clearing her throat and waving her hand. “I'm still here.”

“Hey, you're the one curious about my personal life,” Dean said jokingly. She stuck her tongue out at him and he grinned but continued the story. “So I ran into Cas, literally, but hey, turns out that’s a great conversation starter. I asked him why he was there and he said he had a piece on display. And then he asked me to guess which one.”

Cas snorted. “He picked some pottery piece.”

“You were making me nervous!” Dean said. “I'm trying to impress this guy even though I know nothing about art, and he makes me guess which one he did out of everything at the show!”

“I admit, it was fun making you sweat,” Cas said, leaning briefly into Dean.

“I’m sure it was. But then he showed me the one that was actually his, and good thing I liked it, ‘cause I might’ve just left him then.”

“You would not have,” Cas corrected. “You thought I was hot.”

“You are,” Dean said with a smirk.

“Okay, okay, we get it,” Charlie interrupted. “Dean was whipped from the moment you met.”

“Hey!” Dean protested as she and Cas laughed. “Cas is the one who gave me his number at the end of the show and a request that I call him along with the promise of keeping his painting if I wanted to.”

“Like you wouldn’t have given me your number if I hadn’t said anything,” Cas said wryly.

“Yeah, fine,” Dean relented with a shrug.

“So then you started dating?” Charlie asked.

“Pretty much, yeah,” Dean said with a smile.

Charlie was silent for a minute, but finally asked the question that was still on her mind. “So if you don't mind me asking, have you really kept this a secret from everyone for this long?”

Dean and Cas shared a glance, apparently having an unspoken conversation, before Dean turned back to Charlie. “My mom knows,” he said. “Sammy knows I’m dating someone; he doesn’t know who. My dad doesn’t know anything.”

“My immediate family know about Dean and they’ve met him a few times,” Cas added. “None of them care that we’re both men, so we decided to tell them, as long as they kept it a secret.”

“Every month or two, my mom drives up here to visit,” Dean continued, and Charlie nodded. She knew Mary had been doing that since their freshman year. “After we’d been together for about a year, I introduced him on one of her visits. Sammy rarely comes because of school and my dad stays at home watching him, so it was kind of a perfect situation.”

“Wow,” Charlie said, impressed.

“I’m sorry I never told you,” Dean said sincerely. “It wasn’t because I didn’t trust you or because I was afraid of your reaction. It’s just easier if less people know.”

“I understand,” Charlie said. “But hey, you’ve told me now. And I wasn’t kidding about treating you two to dinner. After all, I’ve got four years to make up for!” She gave Dean a firm pat on the back and a wide grin, which he groaned at.

“Why did I tell her again?” he grumbled, though his eyes were sparkling.

“Because you love me,” Charlie reminded him, then pulled him up into a strong embrace. “And you are so gonna regret that decision soon.”

“Already am,” Dean said, even as he returned the hug.

Charlie grinned again and pulled back. “C’mon,” she said, already headed to the door. “Time for burgers!”

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on Tumblr at [thetideseternaltune](http://thetideseternaltune.tumblr.com/) (main blog) or [hunterangelkisses](http://hunterangelkisses.tumblr.com/) (SPN sideblog)!


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